Cream of the Crop 11/Cream of the Crop 11-1.iso/comm/htmst512.zip/BRUCE512.DOC

Text File | 1995-12-06 | 25KB | 478 lines

BRUCE512.DOC                         1                         Revised: 12/06/95

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                              Contact information

For the following routines:  AV,  BFIND,  COPSINCE,  DATES,  DIRCOMP,  DIRTOTAL,
FILL, FIXTEXT,  FORTUNE,  HTMSTRIP,  PAGINATE,  READINIT,  and  READMAKE-created
files:

                Bruce Guthrie
                Wayne Software
                113 Sheffield St.
                Silver Spring, MD 20910

                fax: [phone]

For the following routines:  CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, ISAMFIND/ISAMMAKE, READ,
and READY:

                Bruce Guthrie
                Room H-4885
                U.S. Dept of Commerce/ESA/STAT-USA
                Washington, DC 20230

                fax: [phone]
                voice: [phone]

                E-Mail: [e-mail]

Foreign users:  Please provide  an  Internet-reachable  e-mail  address  in  all
correspondence if you have any hope of getting a reply!  Internet e-mail is  the
preferred method of contact for all  other  users  as  well.   America  On-Line,
CompuServe, and Prodigy all offer Internet e-mail access so get with it!

Since these programs are typically "freeware"  (with  the  exception  of  people
trying to make money from them instead of me), they generate maybe $100/year  in
revenue for me.  As such, my ability to afford  wonderful  customer  support  is
somewhat restricted.   Please  do  not  leave  messages  saying  "Call  me  long
distance".  Also, please be specific  about  what  problems  you  encounter  and
include command-line inputs as well as any control  or  INI  files  that  you're
using.

The "production" releases of these programs are posted  directly  by  me  (Bruce
Guthrie, the author) on the Simtel ftp site at ftp.coast.net.  More  information
about locations at this site is provided later.  People are encouraged to upload
them to bulletin board systems but I do not upload them to BBS's myself.

Standard disclaimer in this society:  Wayne Software disclaims all warranties as
to this software, whether express or implied, including without  limitation  any
implied  warranties  of  merchantability,  fitness  for  a  particular  purpose,
functionality, data integrity or protection.


BRUCE512.DOC                         2                         Revised: 12/06/95

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                                  Introduction

This documentation provides some overview information on a number  of  utilities
that have been posted by Wayne Software.  All  programs  described  herein  were
written by Bruce Guthrie.  Most are distributed with a Wayne Software copyright.
Others were written for the U.S. Department of Commerce.  All are free  for  use
provided relevant documentation is kept with the programs, no changes  are  made
to the programs or documentation, and  they  are  not  bundled  with  commercial
programs or charged for separately.

CHANGE, CONVERT, FILUPDAT, ISAMFIND/ISAMMAKE, READ, and READY are excluded  from
the commercial-packaging restriction.  These programs  are  owned  by  the  U.S.
Department of Commerce and may be re-distributed without restriction.

People who need to bundle AV, BFIND, COPSINCE, DATES, DIRCOMP,  DIRTOTAL,  FILL,
FIXTEXT, FORTUNE, HTMSTRIP, PAGINATE, READINIT, or READMAKE files in  commercial
packages other than shareware/freeware collections must pay a  $50  registration
fee to "Wayne Software" at the following address.   READMAKE-created  files  are
also subject to this limitation.  I don't expect to make any  money  from  these
utilities but I don't want others to sell them instead.

This collection of utilities were compiled using Microsoft's  Visual  BASIC  for
DOS 1.0 compiler.  In each  case,  Thomas  G.  Hanlin  III's  excellent  PBClone
routines,  release  2.3,  provided  additional  functionality.   Since  Tom  has
announced that he will be dropping support for his  PBClone  routines  to  allow
himself to spend time on a real life,  future  directions  for  my  routines  is
uncertain.  The basic routines should be able  to  be  maintained  indefinitely;
we'll see.  I keep thinking that I should be doing Windows programming but  it's
hard to get psyched up for that when you think of Windows as a  computer  virus.
(Don't even think of asking me what I think of Bloatus Notes please...)

Each of the utilities are separately described in a like-named *.DOC file.  This
documentation (BRUCEymm.DOC--the file release date is  indicated  by  the  "ymm"
parameter) serves to summarize the various utilities.

Most of the routines have defaults that  can  altered  by  using  initialization
files (inifiles).  These are described in the appropriate  documentation.   (One
thing about *.INI files; if you don't  have  one,  it's  in  your  interests  to
specify the "/-I" parameter.  Otherwise, the program searches  your  entire  DOS
path looking for the file.)

Wayne Software also writes programs, batch files, and sets up menu  systems  for
people on a for-fee basis.  If you desire this service, contact  Wayne  Software
at the address specified above.


BRUCE512.DOC                         3                         Revised: 12/06/95

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                            The programs themselves

The utilities are uploaded with a ZIP name that includes the year and  month  of
the release in a "ymm" format ("409" is September 1994 version).  The files  are
posted directly by the author to the Simtel archives at  ftp.coast.net  and  are
available via anonymous ftp through that site.  Users are encouraged to post the
files on bulletin boards and such but, again, the author directly posts only  to
the Simtel archives.

If you're using a version of the programs that's more  than  a  year  old,  it's
almost always the case that there's a newer version.  Please check the ftp  site
for an update.  Alternatively, send $10 made out  to  "Wayne  Software"  to  the
Wayne Software address above and I'll send you everything on diskette.  (If  you
need anything other than 3.5" high density, specify that too please.)

The current version of each program  is  documented  below.   In  addition,  the
Simtel subdirectory name, the Simtel one-line description, and the regular short
file description (from the *.DIZ file) are provided for each of the programs.

This listing is current as of the December 1995 (512) release.

SimTel/msdos/arcutil/
av509.zip       Archive view: Free ZIP etc directory viewer

AV.EXE:  Archive directory viewer.  Presents list of files in archive (ZIP, ARC,
etc) and lets you sort as desired.  Also allows resetting of the file date based
on the archive's contents.

SimTel/msdos/textutil/
bfind511.zip    Boolean FIND command (BFIND BEGIN & END)

BFIND.EXE:  Allows Boolean-type FIND requests.  For example, find any line  with
one string AND another one, or any line with one string OR another.

SimTel/msdos/textutil/
chang510.zip    Change strings in text files

CHANGE.EXE:  Processes change commands in files.  Files can be of any  size  and
type (e.g.  binary or text) and are processed  quickly.   Up  to  thirty  change
commands can be processed in a single pass.  Also  provides  ability  to  remove
trailing spaces from text files.

SimTel/msdos/spredsht/
convr512.zip    Convert dBase, ASCII-delim, fixed, 1-2-3

CONVERT.EXE:   Converts  between  data  formats:   FROM  dBase,  ASCII-delimited
(typically commas between fields and quotes around strings), and fixed field  TO
Lotus WKS, ASCII-delimited, dBase, and fixed field.


BRUCE512.DOC                         4                         Revised: 12/06/95

SimTel/msdos/dirutil/
cops509.zip     Copies files modified since given date

COPSINCE.EXE:  Copies all files modified since a given date.  Primarily used for
making sure you have a back-up of stuff and also to  copy  updated  programs  to
another place.  Lets you define your own groupings of files if desired.

SimTel/msdos/batutil/
dates511.zip    Warns you in advance of birthdays etc

DATES.EXE:  Program that warns you in advance when an  event  like  a  birthday,
anniversary, or holiday is coming up.  The idea is to give you  advance  warning
so you can send a card or get out of town in time.

SimTel/msdos/dirutil/
dirco512.zip    Updates files based on source directory

DIRCOMP.EXE:  Similar in some ways to DOS's REPLACE command but adds ability  to
delete extra files in the  destination  subdirectory,  copy  hidden  and  system
files, and prepare a report showing  inconsistencies.   Is  frequently  used  by
network administrators to update workstation files.

SimTel/msdos/dirutil/
dirto510.zip    Directory lister and totaller

DIRTOTAL.EXE:  Prepares report showing files in subdirectory or  drive.   Allows
some restriction requests (show only files with  date  greater  than  a  certain
value).  Similar to Norton's FF and Ray Van Tassle's WIZ  command  (which  is  a
great program but it doesn't work on network or CD-ROM discs) in some  ways  but
presents a more formal report.  Also allows you to look for duplicate file names
and search by attributes or dates.

SimTel/msdos/diskutil/
fill512.zip     Stuffs as many files as possible on disk

FILL.EXE:  Program designed to move files off to floppy  diskettes,  taking  the
biggest files first and skipping those that won't fit.  Also provides option  of
splitting large files up, creating a status report, and other features.

SimTel/msdos/dirutil/
filup510.zip    Copy updated files based on a control list

FILUPDAT.EXE:  Program which compares a selected list of files in a source  path
against those in another path and copies those that have been updated.   Similar
to DOS' REPLACE command but works from a stored list of files and can handle any
number of directories.

SimTel/msdos/textutil/
fixtx512.zip    Translate text file characters en masse

FIXTEXT.EXE:  Program which applies a user-definable character-translation table
to a text file.  Can allow you to convert graphics  characters  to  their  ASCII
equivalents, lowercase letters to uppercase letter, etc.  Can also  be  used  to
translate DOS text files to Mac or Unix text files and  vice  versa.   Can  also
expand tabs, remove trailing spaces, and remove backspaces.


BRUCE512.DOC                         5                         Revised: 12/06/95

SimTel/msdos/batutil/
fortn510.zip    Fine-tunes DOS FOR command w/options

FORTUNE.EXE:  A tuner-upper for the DOS FOR command.   Generates  a  batch  file
which does all those wildcard things you wished FOR could do (like  "FORTUNE  IN
(*.BAS) DO RENAME %A %2*.*" to remove parts of file names).   Lets  you  do  all
sorts of things including distinguishing file name roots from  their  extensions
as well as incrementing file names by specified values.

SimTel/msdos/textutil/
htmst512.zip    Reprocesses HTML pages for humans to read

HTMSTRIP.EXE:  Goes through downloaded pages from the Web and  removes  imbedded
HTML commands.  Reflows paragraphs and tries to make it basically readable.  Can
be used in conjunction with the PAGINATE command to produce even  more  finished
output.  # unit verbatim

SimTel/msdos/textutil/
isamf509.zip    Full-text searching help desk documents

ISAMFIND.EXE and ISAMMAKE.EXE:  Programs that work  in  conjunction  to  provide
full-text searching of text files.  This is useful for helpdesk applications and
other functions where you want to search  for  files  and  retrieve  the  "best"
document that matches your search criteria.

SimTel/msdos/textutil/
pagin512.zip    Paginates text (indexes, sorts, tables)

PAGINATE.EXE:  Reformats text files with  imbedded  formatting  codes.   Handles
things like titles,  footers,  indexes,  alignment,  justification,  multicolumn
listings,  etc.   Also  provides  support  for   imbedding   tabular   data   in
ASCII-delimited or dBase formats which can be imbedded  and/or  sorted  in  your
reports.

SimTel/msdos/textutil/
read509.zip     Free viewer, also make any text self-viewing

READ.EXE,  READY.EXE,  READINIT.EXE,  and  READMAKE.EXE:   Text  file   browsing
utilities.  READ--Supports marking, copying text,  reading  Unix  and  Mac  text
files, etc.  Handles with files of 16,000 lines or less (approx 800,000  bytes).
READY--truncates or wraps lines over 80 characters in length but  handles  files
of an unlimited number of lines.  READMAKE--Takes an ASCII-text file  and  makes
it self-viewable (using a READ clone).


BRUCE512.DOC                         6                         Revised: 12/06/95

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                                Revision history

Detailed revision histories for the programs are only maintained  for  the  last
three releases.  After that, you get the major revision summaries only  for  the
next three releases or so.  No one reads this junk  anyway,  right?   Programmer
types like to put it in to justify what they've been doing over the last  couple
of years.

-------------- (full detail; revisions made 1 to 3 months ago)
Release 95/12:

  All routines:  This release is  dedicated  to  the  comic  strip  "Calvin  and
  Hobbes" which is about to disappear from 2,400 newspapers  across  the  world.
  I'm not alone in knowing that I'll miss that strip,  the  only  really  bright
  spot in comics these days.  (Being a nerd, I also  enjoy  "Dilbert"  but  that
  strip never brings out the wonder of life, just the basic horrors of the  work
  place.) Now I'll never know the horrors that someone like Calvin will face  on
  his first date.  (Can you imagine how he would  have  perceived  of  something
  like a bra strap?) It was also nice to know someone who was socially less  fit
  than I was even while his cohort was so damned suave.

  Some routines may not work with Windows95's new  directory  format.   I'm  not
  crazy enough to have installed the 1.0 version of an  operating  system  so  I
  don't know but you might keep it in mind.

  CONVERT:  Now allows you to read fixed-fixed files which contain  lines  which
  do not end with CR/LF.  These are typical of files created on a  mainframe  or
  copied from a tape.  The routine SPLITREC was  previously  included  with  the
  routine to get around this but that's being dropped with  this  release.   Now
  allow the input and output file types to be the same; useful if  you  want  to
  just reformat some existing data.  New  parameters:  /SCAN=n  (allows  you  to
  specify the number of records to scan for maximum field widths if /FROM  ASCII
  and /-INDEF are specified) and /GAP=n (adds n-characters to each output  field
  if /-INDEF and /TO FIXED are  specified  so  columns  will  be  spaced  out  a
  little).  Added a field-definition  file  (SIMIBM.DEF)  for  the  SimTel  file
  archives.  Cleaned up the output field-definition file a little.  Changed  the
  field-definition file to make the decimal count and output length optional.

  DIRCOMP:  Now allow for up to 10 file exclusions.

  FILL:  Added a message for "last disk of /MULTI set" if you're writing to  the
  last of a multi-disk set.  Also /LAST and /-LAST option indicator  to  control
  whether it shows up or not.

  FIXTEXT:  Added automatic detection of  input  text  format  (lines  end  with
  CR/LF, CR alone, or LF alone).  Makes  the  program  ideal  for  automatically
  converting all files in a given subdirectory from, say, Unix text files to DOS
  text files. This became necessary as I started downloading more files from the
  Web.  Dropped a number of parameters related to this:  /CRLF,  /CR,  and  /LF.
  Fixed-length input files now require /n parameter instead of both  /-LINE  and
  /WIDTH=n parameters.  Fixed-length output files now require  /TO  n  parameter
  instead  of  both  /TO  -LINE  and  /WIDTH=n  parameters.   Dropped   /WIDTH=n
  parameter.  Now allow the output files to be created in another  subdirectory,
  allowing you to convert a whole bunch of files from something  one  place  and
  create them to another subdirectory.  Changed default to be not to  produce  a
  *.BAD file (/-F).


BRUCE512.DOC                         7                         Revised: 12/06/95

  HTMSTRIP:  Decided HTMSTRIP did a decent enough job handling  the  files  that
  the second PAGINATE pass was no longer necessary so /-PAG (don't use PAGINATE)
  is now the default.  Split HTMSTRIP out from the PAGINATE  ZIP  for  the  same
  reason. Added parameters:  /SPACES, /-SPACES, /TAB=n,  /WARNINGS,  /-WARNINGS,
  /RULE=string.  Added support for HTML pages with Centering,  whether  PAGINATE
  is used or not.  Added ability to replace [Image], [Input],  and  [Link]  with
  your own strings.  Lots of bug fixes.  Added lots of additional codes  in  the
  HTMSTRIP.INI file as specified by Dave  Raggett's  HyperText  Markup  Language
  Specification Version 3.0 draft  (03/28/95).   Lots  of  debugging  on  tables
  including handling (in a way)  tables  embedded  in  tables.   Dropped  /FORCE
  parameter.  Added automatic detection and skipping of GIF, JPEG, and BMP files
  so you can process all the files in your cache subdirectory.

  PAGINATE:  New /Linitfile parameter (allows you to replace characters from the
  input file when you write  out  the  file).   New  marker  commands:   -TITLE,
  -FOOTER, -HEADER  (turn  off  existing  titles,  footers,  and  headers),  and
  PAGEEJECT=string. Dropped HTML and -HTML market commands since HTMSTRIP should
  really be  used  instead.   Removed  HTMSTRIP  from  the  ZIP  and  separately
  distributing.  Fixed following bugs:  (1) reduced chance of blow up if totally
  whacked ASCII-delimited files, (2) the RIGHT marker command didn't  work,  and
  (3) fixed a bug which kept writing out  Alt-255  characters  for  things  like
  bulleted items; they are now replaced by  regular  spaces  on  output.   Other
  changes:  (1) Got tired of it automatically generating an extra page (complete
  with title) if you just happened to write to the last  line  of  the  previous
  page so made titles  conditional  on  actually  printing  something  afterward
  (unless EJECT FRONT or EJECT BACK is specified).  (2) Am now providing a  file
  PAGNOASC.INI which removes graphic and other possibly non-printable characters
  on output (see /Linitfile parameter).  (3) The  program  now  removes  leading
  spaces from input sections  in  which  "#  CENTER"  is  in  effect;  this  way
  re-centering can be successfully done.

Release 95/11:

  BFIND:  Added /EMPTY and /-EMPTY options.  Switched it so  the  program  reads
  the input files in binary mode which means it won't blow up on non-text  files
  like it did before (although, admittedly, searching for  strings  in  non-text
  files isn't really advised).  Switched the program so it would work  with  DOS
  text files (lines end with CR/LF), Mac text files (lines end with CR), or Unix
  text files (lines end with LF).  Recoded so the program automatically presumes
  search for two strings is "AND" unless otherwise specified (so  "BFIND  SimTel
  Archives *.TXT" is the same thing as "BFIND SimTel AND Archives *.TXT").

  DATES:  Allowed "/C" to be used to designate the date input file names.   This
  allows them  to  be  entered  in  an  *.INI  file.   Fixed  up  the  DATES.TXT
  distribution file to correctly reflect formula for start and end  of  Daylight
  Savings Time in the United States (and of course  released  the  version  just
  after DST ended...).

  DIRCOMP:  Fixed a bug with the /-F option.

  FIXTEXT:  Added /Linitfile option.  More debugging.

  HTMSTRIP:  Added automatic wrapping based on the desired line  length  so  you
  don't have to use PAGINATE.   Added  indication  of  input,  link,  and  image
  regions as suggested by the HTMLCon program by Satore Township.  Also switched
  to using a user-provided lookup file for the &xxx; HTML replacement  codes  as
  suggested by that program.  Added several new  options  including  /Linitfile,
  /WRAP, /-WRAP, /SYMBOLS, and  /-SYMBOLS.   Fixed  up  some  stuff  related  to

BRUCE512.DOC                         8                         Revised: 12/06/95

  <PRE>/</PRE> blocks.

  READY:  Added /LOAD option.

Release 95/10:

  BFIND:  Added wildcard and @listfile support to program.

  CHANGE:  Added @listfile support to  program.   Finally  added  some  wildcard
  support for the /FROM specification (warning; nothing that  fancy!).   Rewrote
  the documentation a bit to highlight to/from/in specifications better.

  CONVERT:  Fixed a bug with writing to DBF files when you wanted  input  fields
  dropped.  Fixed a bug which periodically reclassified fixed-field input  files
  on you and then added a /-VER option which turns off all input verification if
  nothing else works correctly.

  DIRTOTAL:  Sigh.  Someone ran it on a disk with more than 32,000  files  in  a
  single subdirectory (people do this?) and requested that  it  be  expanded  to
  allow for that.  So made that change.  Also expanded it for drives larger than
  2.1GB.

  FILUPDAT:  Added /ERROR and /-ERROR parameters to determine what happens  when
  a source or destination subdirectory are missing.

  FIXTEXT:  Fixed up a bug  with  combined  *.INI  files.   Added  wildcard  and
  @listfile input file name support to program.

  FORTUNE:  Maintenance release.  Been a year  since  the  last  release  and  a
  number of changes have been made in terms of documentation and *.INI files and
  such.

  HTMSTRIP:  New command.  Is included in the archive with the PAGINATE command.
  Allows you to process HTML pages from  the  Web.   It  strips  the  codes  and
  reformats the pages appropriately, making them somewhat  readable  by  humans.
  Primarily of use when used in conjunction with  the  PAGINATE  command  so  is
  included in that archive.

  PAGINATE:  Archive file includes the new HTMSTRIP.EXE  command.   New  command
  line options:  Added support for wildcards and @listfile specification.   Made
  the default output extension configurable using /EXT=.xxx.  Added  /PAUSE  and
  /-PAUSE options.  New marker commands:  Activated SUM and  BREAK  commands  so
  you can total up columns  of  numbers,  create  subtotals,  and  such.   Added
  support  for  INDENTER=string  (mainly  because  I  was  thinking  of   e-mail
  responses), FLAG=string (which is  related  to  INDENTER=string  anyway),  and
  RULE=string (needed for some HTMSTRIP options) markers.

-------------- (kind of terse; revisions made 4 to 6 months ago)
Release 95/09:

  All  programs:   Switched  documentation  to  include   page   headers,   full
  justification, etc using PAGINATE command.

  CHANGE:  Added wildcard specs for the input file.

  ISAMFIND/ISAMMAKE:  Lots of changes (parms added and dropped).  Added  support
  for combining files to be processed into a single file.


BRUCE512.DOC                         9                         Revised: 12/06/95

  PAGINATE:  Added support for the output file name in titles, footers, etc.

  READ:  Modified program so Alt-xxx keys work for searching just  in  case  you
  want to search for non-ASCII characters.  Fixed some problems  with  searching
  for short (1 character or less) strings in  reverse.   Fixed  a  lock-up  that
  happened when you asked for "next" search and there wasn't anything to  search
  for yet.

  READY:  Added line processing ranges.

Release 95/07:

  AV:  Rewrote using ISAM.  Slower but no limits.

  DATES:  Added the ability to include imbedded decimal codes in the file.
  Added the ability to have a day repeat each month such as "XX/10/XX Mortgage
  due".

  ISAMMAKE/ISAMFIND:  Lots of debugging done.  Added READY.EXE to the ZIP file
  and switched it to be the default text viewer.

  PAGINATE:  Fixed a problem with EMS support and stack overflows.

  READMAKE:  Fixed a bug which sometimes gave you "permission denied" errors
  when trying to view the help screen.

  READY:  Added tab expansion, /TRUNCATE, /SPLIT, /WRAP, /INDENT=n,
  highlighting, Ctrl-PgUp/Ctrl-PgDn, /COLOR=nnn, /PORT=port, /Iinitfile, /-I,
  /MONO, and /COLOR parms.